


chrysalism

by paintedwaterdropss



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, also an au, this is just soft kellex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 21:30:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20142286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paintedwaterdropss/pseuds/paintedwaterdropss
Summary: chrysalism;the tranquility of being inside during a thunderstormAlex had always hated thunderstorms and Kelley loved them





	chrysalism

**Author's Note:**

> the "I accidentally bumped into you and now I fell in love with you" AU that no one even asked for
> 
> you're welcome, I guess
> 
> sorry for the lack of commas :/

When Alex was little she hated thunderstorms. Growing up in California didn't help her case of thunderstorm jitters either. So when the skies were gray and thousands of raindroplets pounded against the windows of 7 year old Alex Morgans bedroom window, you could find her curled up in the corner furthest from the window with as many stuffed animals in her arms as she could hold. After the storm cleared up it would take her parents at least an hour to get her to come out of hiding (after all the laundry basket was not made to host 7 year old girls with a fear of thunder, but Alex didn't really care).

As Alex grew older, her fear of thunderstorms never really left her. Now she just refused to do anything else than sit on her bed with noise cancelling earphones on and watch tv shows. It didn't always work, but Alex managed. No one really questioned her coping methods as the weather put a damper on everyones mood.

That is everyone but Kelley O'Hara.

Kelley loves thunderstorms. So much so, that her mom had to lock all of the doors when it was raining to stop little Kelley from running outside, and play for hours in the rain, and end up with a cold. It proved to be effective, but that just meant that the O'Hara family now were locked in their house with an energetic 8 year old who would not stop talking. She talked so much during one particularly bad storm that her dad braved the storm and returned precisely one hour and twenty minutes later with a thick science book about nature,earth and everything in between that little Kelley was constantly asking about.

That book quickly became one of Kelley's favorite possesions. She used it so much that she had had to tape various pages back in place multiple times. It quickly sparked something in her and Kelley grew to love science. It also resulted in Kelley loving reading during thunderstorms. So much that she later in life found comfort in thousands of droplets pounding against the windows and the occasional flash of lightning.

And way, _way_ later in life, Kelley met Alex. And as fate would have it, it was during a thunderstorm (later, Alex would say that it was her best and only good memory during a thunderstorm).

Kelley had just walked out of her Brooklyn apartment set on going for a walk to clear her mind, because being an enviromental engineer was exhausting sometimes. She didn't get that far as a person walked _right_ into her.

"I'm so sorry! I just really hate thunderstorms and I didn't check the weather this morning so I don't ha-"

"Woah calm down lady you're literally shaking" Kelley wraped her arms around the soaked woman in front of her. Kelley led them both into her apartment building. She hit the elevator button silently wishing it to hurry up. It was then that Kelley realised she just had dragged a stranger into her apartment building without thinking about it. She slowly turned around and met the other woman's eyes. Kelley noticed that the other woman's eyes didn't quite meet her own and that they kept looking out the window where the storm was still raging.

"Sorry for just dragging you in here," The other woman finally met Kelley's eyes and she sent her a small, but grateful smile.

"Don't feel sorry, I'm grateful that you did because storms kinda freak me out," The other woman let out a little laugh. Kelley laughed along too, just to ease the building awkwardness of their first encounter. Their laughter was cut short by the elevator doors opening behind Kelley.

"Do you wanna come up to my apartment and seek shelter until the storm clears up? I promise I'm not a serial killer," Kelley gestured shyly to the elevator door behind her. The other woman nodded quickly and made a dash for the closing elevator doors. Kelley managed to stick a foot in the door before it closed and sheepishly made her way into the small elevator. They rode up in silence. 

As Kelley was leading the stranger down the hallway to her apartment she realised he didn't even know the other woman's name. Kelley stopped up so abruptly that the other woman accidentally walked right into her.

"Oh I'm sorry! I just realised I don't even know your name," Kelley held onto the other woman's shoulders for balance. She quickly dropped them when she realised how unnaturally long she had held on for. 

"I'm Alex, Alex Morgan" Alex sent Kelley a smile and Kelley swore she could feel her breath being taken away. There was just something about how the raspiness of Alex's voice curled delicately around each word.

"Well Alex Morgan I'm Kelley O'Hara a very normal person who doesn't usually drag random people in from the street," Alex laughed and in that moment Kelley was sure it was the most beautiful thing she's ever heard. Kelley unlocked her door and led Alex inside. She hung up her own coat before helping Alex out of her soaked jacket.

"The bathroom is the door at the end of the hall, I'll just find some dry clothes and a towel so we can get you all warmed up," Kelley basically ran into her own room to get the things for Alex as she didn't want her to catch a cold. Kelley found what she was looking for in record time and ushered Alex into the bathroom with a towel and a fresh set of clothes in hand as promised. Alex poked her head out a minute later with her wet clothes and a shy smile on her face. 

"Um, could you put these in the dryer for me, please?" Kelley took the clothes from Alex with a smile and ushered her back into the bathroom with a promise of dry clothes when she returned. When Kelley heard the lock click and shower running she figured it was safe to leave Alex be. She let out a breath she didn't even realise she was holding in.

A freshly showered Alex Morgan emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later, dressed head to toe in Kelley's clothes. Alex was met with the sight of Kelley sitting in her sofa with two mugs of hot cocoa waiting on the small wooden coffeetable. Kelley was watching some random nature documentary on her tv so she didn't notice Alex at first.

"Is that for me or do you just _really_ love hot cocoa?" Alex asked Kelley with a teasing tone. She watched as Kelley's head whipped around at the sound of her voice and noticed a slight blush covering Kelley's cheeks. Kelley gestured to the free spot on the other side of the couch, silently inviting Alex to join her. Alex walked over to the couch and plopped down in the opposite end of Kelley. She reached out for one of the mugs and took a sip of the warm beverage. That was a mistake though as Alex burnt her tongue and spent the next minute with her tongue poking out of her mouth whilst Kelley tried to keep her laughter hidden.

"So Kelley O'Hara, tell me about yourself," Alex scooted closer to Kelley, intrigued by the freckled woman in front of her. She was basically kidnapped by her so it was only fair to get to know her a bit better.

"Well what do you want to know Alex Morgan?" Alex thought for a moment, and then her face lit up and oh god Kelley is really not gonna survive if Alex keeps smiling at her like that.

"Tell me about your family," Alex looked so proud of her question and Kelley once again felt all of the air leave her lungs. This was happening too often.

Kelley knew she was fucked.

"Well Alex Morgan, I have two very loving parents and two siblings, an older sister named Erin and a little brother named Jerry," Kelley smiled as she talked about her family. She hadn't talked to them in a bit and she missed them.

"What about your family Alex? What's the Morgan family like?" Kelley noticed that Alex lit up when she talked about her family. From the adventures her and her sisters went on when they were younger to the annual Morgan family vacations. Conversation flowed freely between the pair, moving from different topics.

(_"College?"_

_"Stanford"_

_"Ew"_)

None of them dared to say it but they both felt like they had known each other for more than the few hours they had spent together. It wasn't until Kelley was getting her second cup of hot cocoa that she realised the storm had passed. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. The end of the storm also meant her time with Alex was running out. She slowly made her way back into the living room where Alex was still snuggled up on the couch. 

"Hey Alex uh, the storm stopped so I guess you're good to go," Alex looked out of the windows behind her upon hearing Kelley's words. She had completely forgotten about the storm. 

"Oh I didn't even notice, I guess you're pretty good at distracting people," Alex got up from the couch and brought her mug to the kitchen. She returned to the living room to see Kelley folding up her dry clothes.

"Uh here you go, I didn't know if you wanted to change back into your own clothes or something else," 

"Thanks," Alex suddenly felt shy again. This was the first time she had actually been relaxed during a storm and now she felt the moment slowly slipping away. Alex didn't believe in love at first sight but that was before she basically ran down Kelley in the street. 

"Um what do I do about your clothes?"

"Keep them, it looks better on you anyways," Kelley smiled softly at the grateful look on Alex's face. She lead Alex towards the door whilst she tried to come up with anything that would make Alex stay a bit longer. She wasn't succesful.

"So..." Kelley dragged out the word, not knowing what the protocol for this kind of situation was.

"I guess this is goodbye,"

"Yeah," 

(If Kelley wasn't so in her head she might have picked up on the dissapointment in Alex's voice)

"Thanks for rescuing me from the storm," 

"No problem," Kelley opened the door for Alex and watched her walk down the hallway. Kelley knew she needed to do something. She couldn't just let this go and forget about Alex. It felt way too special.

"Wait!" Alex turned towards Kelley at the sound of her voice. Surprise painted all over her face but a little bit of hope hidden in her eyes.

"Um I wanted to uh, gosh get it together dude," Kelley stumbled a bit over her words. She paused and took a breath to calm her racing heart.

"If you ever need a place to stay during a thunderstorm, my door's open for you," Alex could see how nervous Kelley was. That didn't mean she wasn't gonna mess with her a bit.

"Are you offering to be my thunderbuddy?" 

"Uh yeah I guess I am, if that's fine with you," Kelley had moved out of her apartment and was only standing a few feet from Alex. Alex took two steps to be right in front of Kelley. 

"I would love that," Both of them were smiling so big that their cheeks were beginning to hurt a bit. Alex broke their little bubble first by reaching into her pocket for her phone. Kelley just stared at it as if it was from another universe.

"See, this is a phone and when someone gives it to you, it usually means that they want your number," It took Kelley a full minute to regain control of her body and actually _give_ Alex her number. So much for playing it cool. Alex was watching Kelley's every movement with a shit eating grin on her face. 

"Thank you again, for saving me from the storm,"

"Yeah I'm glad it was you and not some creepy fifty year old man," They both laughed at Kelley's attempt at a joke. It was also during their little laughing fit that Alex notcied how close they _actually_ were standing. Now it was Alex's turn to get the air sucked out of her lungs. She could suddenly see how green Kelley's eyes were and count the endless amount of freckles on the older girl's face. 

"I have to go," Alex spoke so softly that Kelley would have missed it if she wasn't standing so close to her. Alex slowly leaned in and pressed the lightest of kisses to the corner of Kelley's mouth. Kelley closed her eyes and let herself fully enjoy their little moment. When she opened her eyes, Alex was gone. Kelley stood in the hallway for a moment, letting the last few hours sink in. She was pretty sure she just met the love of her life. She smiled to herself as she walked back to her apartment. Only problem was, her door was closed.

"Fuck,"

Yeah she locked herself out.

***

Back down on the streets of Brooklyn, you could find a very happy Alex Morgan. She was basically skipping down the street. Alex felt like a school girl with her first crush. She may be dressed in clothes that didn't match and a hoodie from the worst college ever but she didn't care. Her mind was filled with thoughts of the freckled girl just a few blocks behind her. Alex stopped to catch her breath and gather her thoughts a bit. As she thought about the last few hours she couldn't help but smile. It all seemed so odd to her but in a way it also felt perfect. She let out a sigh. It felt like a new beginning. So yeah, Alex Morgan _used_ to hate thunderstorms, but that was until she met Kelley. 

And when you know someone like her, how bad can a thunderstorm really be?

**Author's Note:**

> so this turned out a bit different than I expected but I hope you like it anyway


End file.
